


The Ways Fire and Water Meet and the Unlikely Events That Follow

by Nightblaze



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Post-Canon, and Auklet as an awkward dork, starring cliff as a smart idiot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 12:27:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5828998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightblaze/pseuds/Nightblaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fire and water were never meant to mix, but fate must've made an exception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Time Fire and Water Met and the Exception Fate Made

Cliff was two years old on the fateful day, while Auklet was just about three - the day that fire and water met, you could say.

  
Cliff had been grounded by his mother, Queen Ruby, and Auklet had _finally_ gotten out of the Deep Palace, having decided that she wasn't going to put up with Queen Coral's protectiveness. Anemone had laughed and told her to get out and she'd cover for her. Auklet wouldn't argue with that. Cliff had decided that he wouldn't be locked up in the Sky Palace all day, and had snuck out of a window.

  
Cliff and Auklet flew on for a while, heading towards each other unknowingly. The dark red dragonet named Cliff descended into a clearing that looked friendly enough - sunny and green.

  
To Cliff’s surprise, there was also a green dragon, as Auklet had chosen to take a break in that exact same hollow. “Your scales are emerald-green,” was the first thing that Cliff ever said to Auklet.

  
“And yours are dark red,” Auklet replied evenly, staring back at the SkyWing. “I’ve never met a SkyWing. You’re a bit small.”

  
Cliff huffed. “I’ve never met a SeaWing, but you sure seem like one. Mommy says only royal SeaWings have that starburst pattern on their wings.” Auklet glanced at her wings, tilting her head.

  
“That’s because I _am_ royalty,” Auklet boasted, flaring her green wings.

  
Cliff grinned. “Well, so am I. Bow down to Prince Cliff, the son of Queen Ruby and future best singer in all Pyrrhia!”

  
“It should be the other way around. Bow to Princess Auklet, the daughter of Queen Coral and possibly most pampered dragonet in all Pyrrhia,” Auklet introduced dramatically.

  
Cliff snorted and Auklet laughed lightly. Perhaps it was this moment their fate was decided.

  
It was only a little while before the sun drew dangerously close to the horizon and Cliff decided he did _not_ want to be caught outside of the Palace while Auklet also reasoned she really, _really_ did not want Coral to know her daughter had left the Deep Palace, let alone the Kingdom of the Sea. So, the two bid each other farewell as politely as they could manage. They didn’t think they’d ever see each other again.

  
However, fate has its ways. Fire and water were never meant to mix, but this time there must’ve been an exception.


	2. The Second Time Fire and Water Met and the (Unsucessful) Ways They Evaded Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years later, Auklet and Cliff hope to never see each other ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i fear one day these chapter titles will be too long to fit in the title box.
> 
> Oh well.

Prince Cliff had never been one to go to school. Well, yeah, he had an instructor, who taught him to read, write, and do math, but it was never like Jade Mountain Academy or those other places. His instructor was exactly that - _his._ No other dragonets learned with him. Cliff's head was full of complex knowledge, which Queen Ruby insisted he must learn at age four. Cliff also had a flight instructor. "SkyWings were meant to fly," his mother had said, "Their prince better do it well."

Princess Auklet, on the other hand, attended a small academy for SeaWings only. It was named Thousand Scale Academy, and, as that suggested, the stone building resided on a fairly large island close to the Deep Palace. Auklet was only one of ten dragons that went to Thousand Scale. She really wanted to go to Jade Mountain, where her sister, Princess Anemone, went. "Too far," Queen Coral had said instantly, "Too many unknown dragons." And so it was decided. So, at age five, she was bored out of her mind.

Cliff's instructor, a rather compact russet female with gray-blue eyes named Rhea, strolled into the library, where she and Cliff had their sessions. "Good news!" Rhea began, a smile on her lightly freckled face. She was lucky he liked her, because Cliff had a habit of not listening to anyone he disliked. "Two academies were holding a sort of get-together for a project. I arranged to get you to come, too!"

To some extent, Cliff was excited. "What project? When will I get started?"

"Well, neither academy has art in their curriculum, but they wanted to see what their students could do with a box of paints and a few brushes. You'll have a blank canvas to work with," Rhea explained, "And you get to start right now. Just paint whatever comes to mind!"

Cliff hadn't ever _really_ painted before. Sure, he'd talon-painted when he was younger, but not with brushes or expensive paints. He blinked, but complied and followed Rhea into a room that he hadn't been in much.

As it turned out, as fate had its way of getting things to happen, it was Thousand Scale Academy and some Mud- and SkyWing academy that was holding the convention. Auklet wasn't against the idea, but she did _not_ want to show off what she had in mind. Most of her ideas featured a vague dark red SkyWing who she had met two years ago. She would've told you she didn't think of him much but that was a lie.

As expected, when she was told a SkyWing prince who didn't attend an academy would be joining the convention, Auklet decided she would avoid him. It would be too awkward. 'Hey, I met you after I snuck out of my palace!' - and then Cliff wouldn't even remember her and she would be embarrassed for the rest of her life. In short, Auklet did not fancy going to the convention.

But time moved forward, second by second. The day of the convention arrived and not Cliff nor Auklet were very excited to be going anymore. Rhea and Coral insisted their respective dragon, and eventually the small mass of dragonets came into sight. Most of the dragons were SkyWings and SeaWings, with three or four MudWings as well - in total, there were about twenty dragonets and five dragons.

Cliff clutched his painting protectively. He didn't want anyone to see it until he got to his place. Heck - he didn't want anyone to see it, ever, but here he was, so... The dark red dragonet placed the canvas on the pedestal and sat awkwardly beside it, studying at his talons. They were very interesting. At least, it would seem that way to anyone who spared him a glance.

After several moments, Cliff lifted his eyes and found himself looking at a very pale-scaled SandWing. "Who are you?" he blurted, fumbling for a moment. His words had come our rather harsh. "I mean, cause, y'know, I didn't see you before and I thought only MudWings, SeaWings, and SkyWings were here and, hey, you're a SandWing..."

"Ostrich. My teachers let me come because I was one of the best artists at Jade Mountain. Or something," the SandWing replied, not unsettled one bit. "I like your painting. Where'd you get the idea?"

Cliff didn't answer for a moment, taking in the brushstrokes that had somehow formed a conceivable picture. It was a sun, bright and glaring, with a SkyWing talon reaching out to grab it. "I don't know. I know it looks like whatever dragon is reaching for the light is greedy but I like to think it just wants some light in their life."

"Interesting," Ostrich commented, "What kind of paint did you use? There's a lot of shades in there."

Cliff shrugged apologetically . "I did the painting. My instructor got the paints." Ostrich snorted and smiled.

"Well, want to come see mine?" she asked, tilting her pale head.

"Oh - uh, sure," Cliff agreed, baffled. At least someone here wasn't scared to show off their art.

As Auklet paced beside her painting, which was displayed beside her, she recalled her animus sister. Anemone had told her that she was "an adorable and awkward dork named Auklet." Of course, she had done it lovingly, but that didn't stop Auklet from mocking her alliteration.

"You read too many of Mom's stories," Auklet had laughed. Anemone called her an awkward dork again and then went off somewhere.

At this point in time, Auklet was very, very sure Anemone was on to something. Why else would she have a plan to get away from the SkyWing prince if she saw him?

You see, if you are an awkward dork, it is very hard to pretend you are not. You always need to have a plan. And Auklet did. She reasoned that if she saw those dark red scales, she would approach some other dragon's place and be an awkward dork to them (much better to strangers who she would never see again than someone she'd already met, Auklet supposed. But then again, she hadn't expected to even be in the same place as Cliff ever again, either) and wait until he passed. Easy.

Auklet jumped when she heard someone talking. "Hey! My name's Bayou!" a cheery amber-and-ochre MudWing greeted, gold eyes flickering with enthusiasm.

"I'm Auklet," the SeaWing princess replied, giving a genuine smile, willing herself not to do anything awkward.

"Well, I saw you and you looked anxious and I figured it had something to do with your painting. But it's, like, _really_ awesome," Bayou said in one breath, ending with a grin.

"Really? You think so?" Auklet asked, trying not to let the doubt show in her voice, "I always thought it was a bit much." The painting was more abstract than the rest of the dragonets' art. It featured a pale turquoise flame-like swirl with darker streaks on a multicolored background.

The MudWing nodded his head so fast Auklet thought he was going to get whiplash. "Anyway, want to come meet this super awesome SandWing? Jade Mountain sent her, cause, y'know, they have art classes. Her stuff is übercool and I want to get some tips from her. But she's a bit intimidating and I thought it would be easier if someone was with me, so, uh, come with?”

Auklet laughed and answered, slightly surprising herself. "Sure." 

It was a mad dash towards one point fate decided that fire and water should meet again, this time accompanied by soil and sand. Unaware once again they were headed directly towards each other, Cliff and Auklet followed Ostrich and Bayou respectively.

Bayou didn't notice the look of utter horror on Auklet's face when she saw Cliff - or, if he did, he simply didn't care - and kept on dragging the SeaWing towards a SandWing and SkyWing prince.

Cliff, on the other hand, was having a rather nice conversation with Ostrich until a MudWing and SeaWing almost barrelled into him. "What giv-" Ostrich cut Cliff off before he could continue, which was probably for the better, considering he just saw Auklet and his maw was gaping open in a slightly rude manner. Cliff snapped his mouth closed and avoided eye contact with the SeaWing because he was here to see Ostrich's artwork and-

The MudWing and SandWing were gone, already conversing on what type of paints were best for what and all that stuff Cliff could care less about. Unfortunately, this left him alone with Auklet and, well, that was not what he wanted, he decided quickly. He didn't even know Auklet was going to be there.

"Howdy, stranger," Auklet instantly mocked halfheartedly. _Don't be an awkward dork don't be an awkward dork don't be an awkward dork_ was played inside her head like a mantra and she had broken it in her first words. How Auklet of her.

"Your scales are still green, I see," Cliff uncertainly replied, trying to think of something worthwhile to say.

Auklet's mouth formed a tight smile and she hoped it didn't look too much like a grimace. "And yours are red. Might be a bit grimier than I remember, though. Take care of yourself."

Cliff didn't know what to think. Two years ago Auklet was just as eager to tease him and he reasoned that meeting for half an hour and not seeing each other again for a couple of years would reduce that. Apparently it had not, and Cliff found the banter oddly comforting. "Don't get too snotty, O mighty Princess Auklet. I only said they were green. Much less shiny. Really takes away from the whole emerald thing."

By the end of the project-sharing convention, Cliff and Auklet had grown more friendly with each other. Eventually Ostrich and Bayou had returned, dopey grins plastered onto their faces.

"Hey!" Bayou hummed happily, pouncing towards Auklet. The SeaWing smiled as Bayou continued. "Ostrich has some super-awesome art tips. Now I really want to go to Jade Mountain! They have great art supplies and classes!"

"Don't your clutchmates attend your academy?" Auklet asked as Ostrich greeted Cliff.

Bayou shrugged. "Nah. Truth is, I don't know who or where my sibs are, and not a lot of groups are accepting unsibs these days."

Auklet decided not to ask what the weird terms where. "Oh, I'm sorry." Bayou shrugged again as a whistle sounded from a little ways away.

"Seems like this is the end of the convention. See ya around, Auklet!" Bayou told her, lifting his wings and heading towards the whistle. Auklet waved a talon in return and raised her own wings to find the rest of her group.

Cliff, who had been watching Ostrich glide away, suddenly turned towards Auklet. "Are academies fun?" he demanded. Auklet folded her wings and tilted her head.

"Alright, you nerd, if you think anyth-"

"I'm being serious," Cliff snapped, immediately muttering an apology under his breath.

Auklet frowned. "I mean, if you manage to make some friends, it's awesome. Most dragonets at Thousand Scale are helpful and kind, but I don't know about the rest."

"I want to attend an academy," Cliff decided, nodding. "I really, really want to."

"By all means, go ahead. Nerd."

"Dork."

"Can we have one conversation without calling each other a nerd and dork?" Auklet protested. Okay, she might have let it spill about the time with Anemone and being called an awkward dork, but that did not make it alright for Cliff to call her it.

Cliff smirked. "If you stop calling me a nerd."

"Never."

"Well, that's that."

There was a reason fire and water were never meant to mix. While water was free-flowing and gentle, fire did not take kindly to anything.

Perhaps fate chose these two remnants of fire and water because the fire had been dulled just enough by the water to know when something was a joke and the water had been burned well enough to know when to back off.

Fate, in all its twisted ways, could not let these two go so easily.


End file.
